China’s latest smartphone pushes the boundaries of innovation with its direct plug-in connectivity

Smartphones on the market today allow users to do all sorts of things that would have otherwise been unimaginable even a decade ago. You can listen to music while surfing the net or writing an email, watch movies, get live weather reports, and let’s not forget the phone’s original purpose of talking to people.

The bane of the average smartphone user’s life, however, is their device’s short battery life. And anyone looking to save their beloved device from a sudden black screen of death has to either cut down on the heavy-duty apps or carry a charging cable or battery charging unit with them. But what if we told you that you could cut out the middle man and attach your phone directly to the power outlet whenever and wherever you were?

Arguably pushing the boundaries of innovation, this Chinese-made smartphone boasts the ability to connect directly to the mains. No longer is there a need to dig out your charger, which as we all know often tend to fray and break after a year or so anyway, every time you need to top up your phone’s juice. All you need now is your phone and a power source. Freedom from chargers at last!

So what about the specs of this little gadget?

Without decent performance in the hardware area, the battery factor is irrelevant, but this phone doesn’t fail to deliver on the hardware front either. Boasting the Android 4.0 OS, 1GHz CPU, 4.3-inch 800×400 pixel display, a 3.1 megapixel camera, and a lithium-ion (1800 mAh) battery, there’s plenty going on under the hood.

And the price isn’t bad either!

The official retail price of the phone is just 7,700 yen (US$77) and for a phone incorporating its own folding (yes, it does fold out of the way when not in use!) plug connector as well as specs as substantial as this, it shapes up as a rather attractive package. If you consider that the wholesale price of the phone is a mere 4,300 yen ($43) as well, we think you’ll agree this is one seriously cheap mobile!

“Cutting edge technology”

The maker of this phone clearly has a lot of confidence in its technology. Comments on the phone’s box brag about its, “direct charge”, “cutting edge technology” and “the ability to charge wherever you go.” Okay, so you managed to mention the charging part twice there, but it is kind of cool so we’ll let it go this once.

There is also the assertion from the maker that the product has its own patent so mimicking or incorporating of the phone’s technology into different products will result in a hefty fine. Could this be a sign of China getting serious about its homegrown technology!?

But we can’t shake that fear…

As many of you may be aware, there have been incidents in the news recently of iPhones and Samsung smartphones in China, exploding while being put on charge. The causes have been various, with one woman dying from electric shock and another person seeing their house go up in roaring flames. With this brand new, relatively untested tech, and at such a low price, we have to admit we’d be a little wary of leaving this thing plugged in overnight…